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[Khida]

He went on to repeat the words he'd said before in Common, but while it was nice to know what he'd said, Khida couldn't untangle which word corresponded to which in each language. He asked other questions before she could point this out, and she sighed rather heavily at what was becoming a constant barrage. She couldn't even count the number of questions he'd asked in the span of a few steps -- well, she could, but the point was, it was too many. Khida stopped as he did, and looked over at him with a level gaze, nearly unblinking. So far, this exchange was entirely one-sided -- in favor of his questions. That didn't suit her at all. "We will trade," she decided. "Like people do in the market. I will answer your questions, and you will give me words in Pavi," she continued, in a tone that offered no room for argument -- his choices were yes or no. "You have three answers. I have one word. You owe me two words." The flowing sentences he had translated didn't count. She then looked down at her bare feet, lifting one up from the cold ground and its thin layer of snow. The cloak, by its nature, did nothing to insulate them. "Is it much farther? I don't want to walk any more."

[Joss Hawkeye]

Joss too looked at her feet and then back up at her face, still with a puzzled expression. But this time he answered her directly, foregoing the multitude of questions that kept leaping unbidden to his mind.

“No, it’s not far,” he replied in Common. “It’s close. Close” he repeated in Pavi, using the gesture as well. “Far,” he said in Common, then said the same in Pavi. “Far.”

He considered for a moment, and then added in Common, “I won’t ask you anything else, for now. Come, let’s get to my family’s pavilion, before your feet freeze.”

They were very close to the closest tent now and it would be no more than a few more minutes walk. But he did offer, “Lydi would allow you to ride, if that would help?”

[Khida]

"Close," Khida echoed, this time mimicking the accompanying gesture. "Far." Not the words she would have chosen, but good words to know all the same; she had and made no complaint. The woman looked at the tents around them, as if she might spot the pavilion in question, then over at the horse. Considering the rather large creature -- large, at least, compared to both the Kelvic's falcon shape and her relatively slight human form -- she frowned a bit. "Close is fine," Khida finally answered. "I will walk that much." She set actions to words, turning and continuing down the horse's backtrail. Though after she had taken a few paces, she cast a thoughtful glance back towards the Strider -- not a longing or regretful look, but one contemplating the horse itself. "There are many horses here, I think more than humans. Does every Drykas have one?"

[Joss Hawkeye]

Joss nodded, as the girl repeated the words in Pavi. He fell into step with her once more as she declined his offer of Lydi’s back to carry her. It was clear that she had as many questions for him as he did for her. So, trying to incorporate her underlying request for vocabulary, he replied in Pavi first.

“Horse. Lydi is a horse.” She might already know that one, but he thought he’d just choose words that might seem important ones – and horses to the Drykas were of paramount importance. “I said, Lydi is a horse,” he then translated. His own Common was far from fluent, but he could manage the basics in it. “And yes, there are many here, in Endrykas. But not every Drykas has a horse of their own.” As they walked on, he considered how to explain this process.

“We call our horses Striders. Strider. Each horse belongs to someone – some family. They are traded, amongst the Dyrkas. But are almost never sold to outsiders – those who are not Drykas. And for most of us, a horse will choose us, and then we are bonded.” He paused, trying to think of the words. “Bonded – bonded - it means, we belong to each other. Like family.” He frowned, wondering if this was making any sense. “If you are not chosen by a Strider, not bonded, then you are not Drykas.”

They had now reached the space before his grandparent’s tent. It was a large one – one that had housed already several generations of his family. Joss had yet to have his own, much smaller tent crafted – one that would serve him until he began a family of his own. He had a choice, of course. Some of his uncles and their families lived in this same large pavilion. Others had made homes of their own though they were not even a stone’s throw away from this one. From time to time, one or more of them would pull up stakes and move away from the traveling city, to hunt or for whatever purpose they deemed necessary. But sooner or later they would reappear. At the moment, all were attached to Endrykas, for now.

Joss approached the tent flap and pulled it aside, nodding that she should enter.

“Welcome to our home,” he said politely.

[Khida]

Horse. Is a horse. Khida nodded as he translated the words, eyes narrowing slightly as she tried to take the sentence apart into its component parts -- is, a. She'd have to try them out later and see if she had them right. But he went on to give the horse a special name -- Strider. Or not a name, she thought, but a race, a breed. "A Strider... is a kind of horse?" she checked, glancing over to Joss for confirmation of her interpretation as they walked. He spoke of bonded, bonding, and Khida blinked at that word, a word with special meaning to her. She hadn't quite thought through the implications which suggested themselves before they reached the tent which was his destination. Khida stopped, turning and looking back at the horse -- at Lydi, a new crease etched between her brows. But then she nodded to the Drykas' invitation and stepped inside the pavilion, hands holding the cloak tight about her. The young woman didn't so much walk into the tent as step inside it, moving to one side of the entrance rather than in towards the center of the enclosure. Her gaze skipped over the interior, before she turned to watch as the man came in behind her -- watching, from the edge of her vision, how the tent flap closed behind him. There was a distinct advantage to the pavilion's shelter, however -- already her feet were noticeably warmer, just by virtue of resting on ground not dusted with snow. "It is warmer," Khida remarked approvingly. Though here she couldn't see the sun's climb through the sky.

[Joss Hawkeye]

Once again, Joss had nodded encouragingly as she repeated the words in Pavi. He had some experience in teaching – mostly his younger half-siblings - and he was inherently a patient person, and was naturally supportive if a would-be pupil gave even a modicum of effort to a task. Of course, younger brothers and sisters weren’t always in learning mode, so he was used to resistance as well. But obviously this girl wished to learn so that typically made for an easier time of it. He nodded again, in the affirmative, in response to her question, noting her thoughtful expression as she looked back at Lydi, but holding back his own questions.

He entered the pavilion almost on her heels, and thus almost ran into her, for instead of walking in, she simply stood right there, a bit to the side of the tent flap, which Joss let fall closed behind him. He walked beyond her, looking about to see who might be around, but when she spoke he turned to look back at her.

“Good,” he replied, then gestured. “Come on in. Come sit.” He was walking towards a brazier that radiated warmth, and motioned to the pillows strewn about it, large enough to sit on. They were alone so far, but he knew someone would appear in just a moment – in response to the sound of his unlooked for early return.

“Have a seat,” he said, holding his own cold hands out to the heat that moved upwards from the brazier.

Looking at her quite seriously, he added, “Now may I ask you a question?”

[Khida]

He stepped into the tent behind her and let the flap fall closed without ado, which satisfied Khida. She nodded as he directed her forward, moving over towards the pillows. The young woman toed one idly, then knelt down on the cushion. After sitting there for a moment, she rearranged her posture so as to hold out her feet towards the brazier. She didn't give much regard to the cloak and the degree to which it covered her -- though the Kelvic didn't move to take it off, either. Khida lifted her amber gaze to the Drykas across the brazier as he spoke. She inclined her head, expression still somber. "Yes. You have several questions." Three, to be precise, but as long as there was exchange going on she didn't really care about the count. "And then I will ask you one." Because as much as she wanted to learn Pavi, she now wanted to ask a particular question even more. But she would first exercise patience, and let him ask his. His patience merited reward, too.

[Joss Hawkeye]

The young woman sat, as matter-of-factly as she did everything else. As she stretched her feet out towards the warmth of the brazier, the cloak fell away from her mid-drift and upper thighs, providing Joss with a clear view of what most females tried their best to keep covered at all times. But he wasn’t bent on ogling her, despite his continued puzzling over her lack of modesty. So he averted his eyes a bit, still looking towards the back of the front section of the pavilion, expecting his mother to appear any moment. In the interim, his now guest indicated that he could ask her a question, which was only fair for he had shared several words with her. Turning back to her, but keeping his gaze fixed on her face, he asked, “What manner of being are you – that you can suddenly appear, as if from the sky? That you walk in the snow with no clothes for warmth, and you speak of hunting, yet you carry no weapons, no…anything?” His brow was creased with his own stupidity, for really, the answer should come as no great surprise. He just wasn’t thinking clearly.

Maybe it was because she was naked…

He gave her a very direct look. “What are you?”

[Khida]

He asked a lot of questions, really. She'd said he could ask several, but still... Khida canted her head and regarded him steadily as he spoke, looking slightly bemused at the renewed barrage of words. Not that she didn't understand them, as he had the presence of mind to speak in Common -- but it took him a lot of words to ask a question, apparently. And he'd said he was only asking a question... Khida decided she'd just take the last one as the one he really meant. The rest, the litany of things which mystified him, she disregarded as not needing separate attention. "I am myself," she answered, shoulders shrugging beneath the cloak. But the way his expression changed after told her it wasn't a good enough answer to his mind -- for all that it did describe exactly what she was. Maybe the other one would make more sense to him. "I am not human. I am falcon. Human things get in the way." Kelvic, she could have said -- but Kelvic also included those like Ginchoeri, to whom human things were rather important. At the moment, that descriptor didn't seem to fit best. Expecting that would put paid to his question, at least for now, Khida moved on to ask her own. "What is bonded with a Strider? What is it like?" The woman didn't ask with eagerness or any indication that she wanted a Strider of her own; she spoke out of simple unfamiliarity, and maybe a peculiar hint of underlying concern. She herself still hadn't grasped the whole of the thought that was taking shape -- the sudden worry his words had sparked. If Drykas bond to Striders, and all Drykas have a Strider, could one still also bond to a Kelvic?

[Joss Hawkeye]

Her answer was indeed cryptic, but as Joss looked at her, the frown of frustration on his face was apparently enough of a prompt for her to go just a bit further. For a moment, Joss just drew a mental blank. And then it hit him – like a brick wall had fallen on his head. A falcon! Not human? His eyes widened and he gave himself a good mental kick in the head for being so thick. She was kelvic. It was no rare thing – not in Cyphrus. There were plenty of them that lived amongst the Drykas, most of them hunters. He shook his head slightly, wondering how he could have been so blind. Falling from the sky? He almost snorted. Gods – was he some little child to think this girl some spirit creature come to earth? And the lack of clothing – of course, she had flown down to the snow covered grass and then shifted, so she had no clothes to put on. He was such an idiot! What kind of guard would he make - if he was ever allowed to join the Watch - when he couldn’t even ferret out the none so obscure nature of this girl?

He had to laugh at himself and his lips twitched up at the corners. It was clear the girl considered her answer sufficient, and she had moved on, to pose another of her own. Joss, now satisfied as to what she was, listened and was content to answer whatever she liked to ask him, to translate, or teach her words. Her question, though, wasn’t as simple as it might have seemed, and he thought before speaking, considering how to explain this phenomenon to her.

“Bonding…Bonding…is when a Strider chooses a rider. The horse may be a young one, even a foal – foal - a baby – or it might be young, or old…any age. And the rider too – some are chosen when they are children, others…well some are chosen in their teens, or as an adult…any age really. Some…are never chosen.” His voice fell a bit, for this was always something that caused problems – awkwardness – for a human born to the Drykas to not be chosen by a Strider. It was uncommon, and not a happy thing, generally speaking. At least not for the one who went without a bonded mount.

That made him think of the second part of her question, and he went on. “When a Strider picks a rider, then the two become…inseparable. They ride together, of course. But also, they live together, eat together…not really in the same tent, but…the rider cares for his horse as he would a brother or sister, or child, and the Strider takes great care and is protective of the rider. They grow so close…it is almost like two beings with one mind.” Joss shrugged, unable to explain as eloquently as he would wish.

He stepped over to the opening to the tent and he gave a low whistle. Within a few moments, Lydi’s nose poked through, pushing the flap aside a bit. Joss motioned to the mare and she entered the pavilion with no hesitation, covered in snow and wet as she was. She stopped in front of Joss and he rubbed her soft nose lovingly. He looked at his guest, and said, “We are one, and can not be separated, except by death. She chose me, and I am hers now. She won’t pick another rider, unless I die, and by choosing me, she has gifted and honored me with the name of Drykas.” He smiled warmly and kissed the mare’s broad cheek, and she nuzzled his chest.

He shrugged, unable to say more, other than to repeat, “We are one.”